What happened
Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix from pole position after beating George Russell by just 0.009 seconds in qualifying on Saturday. The seven-time world champion's lap gave him his first pole in Ferrari colours and put Russell's Mercedes second on the front row.
Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc qualified third, 0.119 seconds behind Hamilton. Max Verstappen was fourth fastest in the session but drops to fifth on the grid because of a one-place penalty from a clash with Liam Lawson in Friday practice. That moves championship leader Kimi Antonelli, fifth fastest, up to fourth. Lando Norris qualified sixth for McLaren.
Hamilton had to work for it. He sat fourth after the first runs, more than 0.4 seconds behind Leclerc's early pace, before finding the time on his final lap. Leclerc went first in the fight to beat that lap and fell short, while Verstappen lost his last attempt with a lock-up in the stadium section. Hamilton said afterwards he was "lost for words" after such a long wait for a Ferrari pole.
Why it matters
This was Hamilton's 105th pole, his first since the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2023, and his first since joining Ferrari. It also makes him the oldest driver to take a pole since Mario Andretti did so for Ferrari at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix. After a difficult first season with the team and a Ferrari win in Barcelona earlier this year, the pole is a clear sign the 41-year-old has lost none of his speed when the car is right.
It also sets up a title-deciding Sunday. Antonelli leads Russell by 123 points and Hamilton by 124, and he arrived in Mexico as championship leader after [taking pole at the United States Grand Prix](/article/antonelli-us-gp-pole-first-f1-title-in-reach). A title on Sunday would make him Formula One's youngest world champion at 20, and the first Italian champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
What happens next
Sunday's race can settle the championship. The title stays alive only if Russell wins and Antonelli finishes 10th or lower, or if Hamilton wins and Antonelli fails to score. Any other result crowns Antonelli.
Fernando Alonso will start at the back after an engine problem ended his qualifying early. For Hamilton, the task is now simple and hard at once: turn a long-awaited pole into victory on Sunday.
